Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Charming Triangles ~ Progress

I am making good progress with my lastest project ~ the Charming Triangles Quilt. The Half Square Triangles just keep coming although I am wishing that I had made a whole stack of HST prior to commencing the piecing. Making blocks in small batches seems to be stretching out the whole process and is testing the HST friendship.


For those of you interested in the nitty gritty:
  • The center panel is a hand printed panel by Prints Charming and was trimmed back to measure 17 inches x 17 inches.  Of course you can substitute any of your favorite prints ~ think large scale floral prints or even fun novelty and kids prints.
  • To make half square triangles ~ start with two 5 inch squares, one white, one red.
Follow above diagram:
Use pencil to mark white square with diagonal line.
Sandwich the two squares right sides together - stitch 1/4 inch seam on either side of diagonal line.
Cut apart on pencil line
Press seam allowance toward the red fabric.
AND
Trim the HST back to an exact 4 1/2 inch square.
Repeat until you have enough HSTs.
  • I am a trimmer, I do oversize the blocks and trim back to exact size.  Although it takes extra time, it does mean that your HST is really accurate, and certainly allows for easy piecing when joining all the blocks into rows and then when sewing rows together into a quilt top.  
  • To set the center panel on point, first make a  corner set of half square triangles to "square up" the panel.  For each corner you will need 3 HST plus 3 white triangles (cut a 5 inch square on the diagonal).  Sew together as pictured above.
From here you can continue to add rows of HST to top/bottom and sides.  Keep going until you are happy with the size of your quilt top.


The above pictured quilt top consists of 120 half square triangles and the center panel.  I have since added two more rows of HSTs to the top and bottom of the quilt top.  My quilt top now measures 48 inches x 64 inches ~ 168 HST.

Now basting,
Rita

43 comments:

  1. Yum! Love this quilt - simple design but so effective - the half square triangles set of the Prints Charming Centre beautifully. Looking forward to the end result

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  2. I Love that you have used the prints charming print as the centre focus...
    cheers

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  3. Fantastic post with lots of information. Thank you! And the quilt is turning in to another RPQ beauty. A friend showed me this tutorial on how to sew triangles quickly on Whip UP:
    http://whipup.net/2010/10/15/sewing-triangles-shortcut/
    but I am not sure. Personally I haven't tried the triangles yet but I do have a triangle project bubbling in my head. Thanks again for sharing and congrats on the great auction result. I am part of the Crochet a Rainbow project that Sarah London has on her blog. My daughter is crocheting granny squares as well to contribute. That feels good.

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  4. very nice! I love the print's charming block - I have a linen one I bought last year which i keep meaning to embroider, but maybe i should just jump in and use it ?

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  5. this is amazing and stunning. Love it.

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  6. Absolutely stunning and eye catching Rita, a gorgeous top. xo

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  7. Beautiful fabrics and great colours are turning this into another stunning quilt!

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  8. Wow, that is a really awesome quilt. Thanks for showing it and sharing how to make it.

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  9. Beautiful!!! as always!!

    Have you ever tried making HST’s with the grid method?? Same principle as you use cutting a 5” square and cut down to 4 ½” HST. Here’s a couple of sites that show you how:

    http://www.blockcentral.com/a-halfsquaretrianglepaper.shtml

    http://www.quiltchat.com/lessons/halfsqr.html

    http://www.graspr.com/videos/How-to-Create-a-Grid-to-Sew-Half-Square-Triangles-1

    http://www.patchwork-and-quilting.com/grid-pieced-half-square-triangles.html

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  10. That is a super layout and a great way to use a large print like this gorgeous one!

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  11. I really love this one.
    But you KNEW I love the reds!!!
    Andi x

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  12. Wonderful quilt top! The center panel really makes it shine!

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  13. WOW...it looks great! How big will you make it? Thank you for all the tips.

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  14. Thanks for letting us know how to do this. Your progress is amazing, well done. You have a great way of using fabrics.

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  15. Wow it looks great and I love the orange. This would be a great wall hanging. Thanks for the idea.

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  16. This is beautiful! I absolutely LOVE it. Thanks for the tips and ideas!

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  17. Love it! I need to make some HSTs and am happy to see your technique to create accurate units. Much quicker and more precise!

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  18. i am not surprised that you are a trimmer. your quilts always look so perfect!

    maybe i need to become a trimmer!?!?!

    lovely quilt top!

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  19. Gorgeous! I love what you can do with such simple blocks. As always, I love your work. Thanks for the insight into the process, it will certainly help me get started. We are expecting a huge snowstorm here so I may need to dig through my stash and start a new project. :)

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  20. wow - this is breathtaking! I'm going to have to try this with some new hot-pink fabric I just received. :)

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  21. I love the red/orange combo!

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  22. I love thangles!! They're so easy!

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  23. I so love this quilt...this one and the one with the squares in white and orange!! Could you please do me a favor? The next time you are squaring something up, could you write a little tutorial on it? I think, for some reason, I'm doing it wrong!! thanks!

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  24. Beautiful quilt. I've been making HST's from paper pieced squares I made in PowerPoint in all different sizes from my scraps. I find it easier to just keep sewing on the line inbetween other projects to make a good sized stash of them. Your quilt is inspirational, I might try to do the diagonal centering. Thanks for the how to.

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  25. This design is one of my favorites....pair that with red/white and a circle in the middle equals LOVE!

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  26. I love this quilt. I love the colors and the patterns and the center motif. I avoided HST's for yers but after I started making them using the stitch then cut and trim method I can't get enought of them. I don't draw the lines anymore I made myself learn to use the Angler and then I used the Angler to mark my sewing machine table so I can stitch slightly larger pieces.

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  27. That's a stunning quilt - in both color and design. I love the circle area - nice contrast with the triangles.

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  28. Have you ever thought about using Triangulations sheets? OMG, I am making a pinwheel top and need almost 400 small pinwheels and started using the triangulations papers and can make 16 in about 3 minutes, and no trimming cause you trim as you cut.
    They have been a lifesaver!
    Your quilt is gorgeous...I love the color!!!
    Peggy

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  29. I first saw this picture early this morning on my iPhone and couldn't wait to get home to see it in a larger format. You never cease to amaze me. Absolutely gorgeous. Everything about it--design, fabric, everything.

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  30. hi!
    I love this!
    Great way to use up some scraps, or FQs or more?!? In any colour group!
    Thanks, take care Leslie

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  31. That quilt is divine!

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  32. All I can say is, you've done it again -- Bravo!

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  33. Fabulous - thank you for the tips!

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  34. Superb!! I also like to make my triangles large and cut down. Your piece looks so freaking sharp because you do that.

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  35. You didn't keep it square? Interesting.

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  36. Oh, I love this and would love to try it out. I highly doubt mine would turn out half as fabulous though. Beautiful!!

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  37. Stunning, red & white never fail, wow, great work, love Posie

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  38. Rita,
    I read your blog often. Your work is always striking and this is no exception. Thank you so much for sharing.

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